Syrian TV televised Confessions of Terrorist Cell

(Dp-news – Sana)

DAMASCUS- An official military source stated that army units and security forces arrested a terrorist cell in al-Dumair, 40km north east of Damascus, on Thursday and seized a large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives prepared for targeting vital installations and official establishments, according to the initial confessions of the terrorist cell members.

The source added that this operation came as part of the ongoing efforts of the army and security forces to track down the armed terrorist groups that terrorized innocent citizens and disturbed the country's peace.

Syrian TV televised on Friday confessions of a terrorist cell that was captured in the town of al-Dumair, Damascus countryside, in possession of a large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosive intended for use against vital facilities and official government establishments in the town.

One of the terrorist cell members, Osama Khalifa, said that a person called Hani al-Nomairi asked him to provide weapons from an area in al-Kalamoun in one of the villages of al-Nabek area, and that he went to a person there who told him that he cannot procure weapons at this time and that he needed time. He then returned to al-Nomairi and told him of what happened, and the latter responded by saying that they cannot wait because they need the weapons as soon as possible.

Khalifa said that al-Nomairi then sent him to a village in al-Zabadani area where he met a person that told him that he only had AK-47 rifles from Lebanon priced at SYP 75,000 apiece. He said that he was arrested while on the way back to al-Dumair to inform al-Nomairi .

Khalifa said that al-Nomairi was recruiting youths from al-Dumair and arming them in order to target military facilities and security personnel, and that they planned to attack a gas pipeline that passes through the city in addition to attacking locations in al-Dumair airport, police department, municipality and party headquarters.

Khalifa added that al-Nomairi was following a project of jihad and principality, and that he used to tell them that they "must win because we are right and they are wrong, even if we fight to the last drop of blood."

Alaa Hussein al-Sarakbi, another member of the terrorist cell and a native of al-Dumair, said that he met Hani al-Nomairi due to the fact that they come from the same town, and that during the beginning of the events the latter was urging people to protest and vandalize public properties, and that he went out on protests while armed in addition to arming some people.

Al-Sarakbi said that after a while, he saw four or five AK-47 rifles in al-Nomairi 's farm and some ammo, and that he was hoarding weapons for the goal of establishing an "Islamic principality" under his leadership in al-Dumair, adding that al-Nomairi recruited a number of people he knew and mentioned them by name including Badee Kasim Ali, Abdullah al-Sayyed and Khaled Ghazal.

Al-Sarakbi said that al-Nomairi planned to blow up a number of public facilities in al-Dumair such as the railroad, attacking the airport barrier, cutting off the central communications cable, blowing up a petroleum pipeline, and cutting off electricity from al-Qutaifeh town.

For his part, Ibrahim al-Kayyali, member of the terrorist group, said "In May 17th, al-Nomairi called me and asked me to come to his place… I saw Badee Kasim Ali and Abdullah al-Sayyed with al-Nomairi… Then al-Nomairi asked me to stay… In the evening al-Nomairi, after answering a phone call, told us to move because the army is heading towards us… Al-Nomairi told us that we were setting an ambush for the army".

Al-Kayyali said that each member of the group was armed with an AK-47 rifle, adding "they gave me a pump-action shotgun and taught me how to use it… I refused to carry the weapon in spite of their insistence… They slept later on but I stayed awake … At 4 am, the army arrived… I tried to escape but al-Nomairi hit me in my eye… the group opened fire on the soldiers and wounded scores of them… The shooting continued for 10 minutes before I escaped and turned myself in to the army."

Syria TV also reported that Conscript, Ammar Hussein Hamada, who was martyred at the hands of armed terrorist groups in Daraa Countryside, was laid to his final resting place on Saturday in Jesr al-Shoghour in Idleb Province. The martyr was escorted in solemn procession from Tishreen Military Hospital covered with the Syrian flag and carried up on hands while the military band was playing the music of the 'Martyr' and the 'Farewell'.